Dynamically updating ultra-wide band road markers

ABSTRACT

Provided is an apparatus and method for dynamically communicating information of an area of interest by way of road marker devices, such as road cones, pucks, barricade, or the like. The apparatus may communication information for areas of interest including road work zones, traffic accidents, disabled vehicles, or other road hazards. The road marker devices include processing circuitry configured to determine a peripheral shape as a boundary indicated by the road marker devices as the information of the area of interest, and communicate the information of the peripheral shape from a marker device to vehicles approaching the area of interest. The road markers may communicate information of the area of interest to autonomous vehicles, or vehicles having certain sensors.

FIELD OF DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to road markers that connect toone another and to a vehicle or network, in particular, road markersthat indicate and broadcast to the vehicle or network an area ofinterest.

BACKGROUND

Road obstacles, such as road work zones, traffic accidents, and disabledvehicles may be visually indicated by one or more road cones, flashinglights, signs, or flares. Often, visual notification of trafficaccidents or disabled vehicles may be located in close proximity to theincident, providing little warning to vehicle drivers as they approachthe scene of the accident or disabled vehicle. Road work zones may bevisually indicated by temporary road signs, or even portable signs withflashing lights, sometimes located just a few hundred yards before thezone. In some major highways, large displays may display text thatindicates traffic conditions, and even if there is a traffic accident orroad work zone.

Recent technology has become available in the way of mobile apps, or insome cases, apps that run in automobile navigation systems, that providemessages concerning traffic conditions, accidents, disabled vehicles,road work zones, and may even provide a warning that a police vehicle islocated in a certain area. One mobile app works by way of an initialuser(s) that first spots an incident and sends out a message via themobile app to inform others of the incident. The location of theincident may be obtained based on the current location of the informantmobile device when the notification is entered into the app. The mobileapp requires that information concerning an incident be accuratelyentered. It is possible that the exact location may not have beenentered at the time of first entry of information about an incident.Also, drivers of vehicles that do not have access to the mobile app willnot be informed of an incident that other drivers have spotted, ordrivers without the app will not be able to inform other drivers of theincident.

There is a need for an approach to informing drivers of vehicles ofincidents, such as road work zones, automobile accidents, disabledvehicles, sections of road that may be impassible due to floods, largepot holes, etc., or any other reason that a driver should be warnedabout traffic conditions in a certain area. There is a need to notifydrivers of vehicles of incidents in a certain area at a time that theincident is marked, rather than as others have already come into view ofthe incident. There is a need for dynamically updating a boundary arounda certain incident in the event that boundary of the incident changesover time, such as a moving road work zone. These and other problems areaddressed by the present disclosure.

SUMMARY

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provideda method of dynamically communicating information of an area ofinterest. The method including powering on and initiating communicationsin at least one marker device, determining a peripheral shape indicatedby the at least one marker device as the information of the area ofinterest, and communicating the information from the at least one markerdevice.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there isprovided an apparatus for dynamically communicating information of anarea of interest, the apparatus including at least one road markerdevice including processing circuitry configured to determine aperipheral shape indicated by the at least one road marker device as theinformation of the area of interest, and communicate the informationfrom the at least one marker device.

The foregoing “Background” description is for the purpose of generallypresenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the inventors, to theextent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects ofthe description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the timeof filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior artagainst the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendantadvantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a system diagram in accordance with an exemplary aspect of thedisclosure;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a computer system in a mobile device;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a controller in a road marker in accordance withan exemplary aspect of the disclosure;

FIGS. 4A and 4B is a schematic of a road cone in accordance with anexemplary aspect of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating tiers in accordance with an exemplaryaspect of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating crosswalk mode in accordance with anexemplary aspect of the disclosure; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for dynamic operation of wide-band road markers inaccordance with an exemplary aspect of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description set forth below in connection with the appended drawingsis intended as a description of various embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter and is not necessarily intended to represent the onlyembodiment(s). In certain instances, the description includes specificdetails for the purpose of providing an understanding of the disclosedembodiment(s). However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat the disclosed embodiment(s) may be practiced without those specificdetails. In some instances, well-known structures and components may beshown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts ofthe disclosed subject matter.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “some embodiments”or “an embodiment” means that a particular element, feature, structure,or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment isincluded in at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “inone embodiment” in various places in the specification are notnecessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Conditional languageused herein, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” “may,”“e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwiseunderstood within the context as used, is generally intended to conveythat certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do notinclude, certain features, elements and/or steps. In addition, thearticles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appendedclaims are to be construed to mean “one or more” or “at least one”unless specified otherwise.

Furthermore, the terms “approximately,” “proximate,” “minor,” andsimilar terms generally refer to ranges that include the identifiedvalue within a margin of 20%, 10% or preferably 5% in certainembodiments, and any values therebetween.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designateidentical or corresponding parts throughout several views, the followingdescription relates to a dynamic system of road cones or other indiciathat automatically generate a digital boundary around a location ofinterest by placement and connection of road cones having communicationscapability.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram in accordance with an exemplary aspect of thedisclosure. The system 100 includes one or more road markers 111 thatare configured to communicate, and may have a computer that performsprocessing. In some embodiments, two or more road markers 111 mayphysically define an area 105, referred to herein as an area ofinterest. For purposes of this disclosure, an area of interest is aphysical area that is to be avoided by automotive vehicles. In somecases, the area may be temporary, such as a crosswalk. In other cases,the area is to be avoided because it may be a hazard to vehicles, orbecause work is being done within the area by one or more persons. Theroad markers 111 may communicate with each other over a communicationschannel 113. One or more of the road markers 111 may also communicatewith devices other than the other road markers and may communicate witha network 120 or satellite 140, or other points of entry in order tocommunicate by way of the Internet, or other network communicationsprotocol. One or more of the road markers 111 may communicate with amobile device 110, such as a smartphone. One or more of the road markers111 may communicate directly with automotive vehicles 130. The roadmarkers 111 may also communicate indirectly with automotive vehicles 130by way of satellite 140 or a network 120.

A road marker 111 may take any of various forms, such as a road cone, apuck, a barricade, a fence, or other object that can contain a smallcomputer and/or communications device, and that preferably can withstandvarious weather conditions. In some embodiments, the road marker 111should also be visible to drivers of automotive vehicles. In someembodiments, a road marker 111 may itself be a display device orlighting device. In some embodiments, a road marker 111 may be aruggedized transceiver device or computer device contained in a housingthat is made to withstand weather conditions and that is detectedthrough communication with a sensor, such as a radio wave communicationsdevice.

In this disclosure, the term automotive vehicle applies to automobiles,trucks, buses, motor cycles and tractor trailers. An automotive vehiclemay include autonomous or self-driving vehicles. Over time, mostautomotive vehicles will be equipped with sensors, communicationsfunctions and processing functions that augment or replace operationsperformed by a vehicle driver. For example, most automotive vehicleshave built-in navigation functions or at least messaging functions, inwhich information about traffic conditions may be received and eitherdisplayed or spoken.

Automotive vehicles 130 may have built-in smart display devices 131. Abuilt-in smart display device 131 may provide an interactive interfacefor access to various pre-programmed applications, such as radio andcabin environment control, that have previously been available by way ofknobs and levers, and newer functions such as navigation, GPS, audio,phone connectivity, fuel economy, traffic, and weather, by way of asuite of apps. Because the smart display device can provide informationon the status of the vehicle, such as fuel economy, as well asentertainment, such as radio, the smart display device may be part of aninfotainment system. An example of an infotainment system is ToyotaEntune®. In some cases, many of the same functions available in thesmart display device are also available for a mobile device. Toyota forexample offers an Entune® app.

A built-in display device 131 may be part of an in-vehicle computersystem, or infotainment system. The infotainment system may be acomputer-based system that includes communications circuitry for shortrange communications. Examples of short range communications may includeWiFi®, Bluetooth®, a cellular network, direct transmission such asmillimeter wave, ultrasonic, or laser. One or more of thesecommunications circuitry may be used for external communication with aserver computer system 120. The server computer system 120 may be theInternet, or some other network-based computer system.

Although the system of FIG. 1 includes a built-in display device 131,the system need not be limited to a built-in device. The display deviceincluded in the vehicle may be a separate stand-alone mobile device,such as a tablet computer or any display device having a wired orwireless communications interface. For purposes of this disclosure, amobile device that is used inside of an automotive vehicle, or carriedaboard the automotive vehicle, will be referred to as an in-vehiclemobile device. A mobile device 110 that is used for communication withthe road markers, and that may be taken out of an automotive vehicle130, will be referred to as an external mobile device. It should beunderstood, that in some cases an in-vehicle mobile device may be thesame device as the external mobile device 110. In other words, thenomenclature refers to the location that the mobile device is beingused. That is an in-vehicle mobile device may be taken out of theautomotive vehicle. As will be discussed later, an external mobiledevice 110 may be a certain smartphone that is used to communicate withthe road markers for purposes of programming, initialization, etc. Inmost cases, the in-vehicle mobile device 131 may communicate with theroad markers 111 for purposes of receiving an alert message related toan area of interest.

An in-vehicle mobile device may be provided with a mobile app thatenables the in-vehicle mobile device to perform some of the samefunctions as a built-in display 131. In an exemplary aspect, thein-vehicle mobile device may be used as the display device in place of abuilt-in display device 131. In some embodiments, the vehicle is notequipped with a built-in display device 131, and the in-vehicle mobiledevice is provided as the sole interactive display device for thevehicle. The in-vehicle mobile device may be any of a number of types ofmobile devices, including, but not limited to, a smartphone, a tablet, alaptop computer, or other computing device having a display and a meansfor interacting with the display, and a connection means to enablecommunications with the vehicle and/or with an external computer system120. The means for interacting with the display may be a touchscreen ora pointing device, and may also include technologies such as eye gazedirection.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, an app may be provided for thevehicle infotainment system, or a comparable app may be provided for amobile device to offer alert-related services. In some embodiments, themobile app may be used to access services without being connected to thevehicle, or being physically within the vehicle compartment, orproximate to the vehicle. In some embodiments, the mobile device isassociated with more than one vehicle, and the mobile device may be usedto select a particular vehicle in order to use the app for a particularvehicle. In some embodiments, either the mobile app or the built-indisplay may be used for alert-related services.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for an exemplary computer system for abuilt-in smart display device for an automotive vehicle. The descriptionof the exemplary computer system may apply as well to mobile devices,i.e., either in-vehicle mobile devices or external mobile devices. Theexemplary computer system is presented for purposes of explaining anexample of a general smart display device, as smart display devices varybetween makes and models of automotive vehicles. In one implementation,the functions and processes of the smart display device 131 or mobiledevice may be implemented by a computer system 232. Next, a hardwaredescription of the computer system 232 according to exemplaryembodiments is described with reference to FIG. 2. Regarding FIG. 2, thecomputer system 232 includes a CPU 200. Process data and instructionsmay be stored in memory, such as SDRAM 248. Further, the computer system232 is not limited by the form of the computer-readable media on whichthe instructions are stored. For example, the instructions may be storedon CDs, DVDs, in FLASH memory, RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, hard diskor in another information processing device with which the computersystem 232 communicates, such as a server or computer.

Further, automotive vehicles may be provided with a utility application,background daemon, or component of an operating system, or combinationthereof, executing in conjunction with CPU 200 and an operating systemsuch as LINUX®, Microsoft Windows®, Android, iOS, BlackBerry and otheroperating systems known to those skilled in the art.

In order to achieve the computer system 232, the hardware elements maybe realized by various circuitry elements, known to those skilled in theart. For example, CPU 200 may be a quad-core ARM processor fromQualcomm, or an Intel Atom processor, or may be other processor typesthat would be recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art. The CPU200 may also include a Cache 206 and a GPU 210. Special purposes devicesinclude a timer 202, a boot ROM 204, power management and touch screencontrol 242, flash 254 and an associated flash controller 252.Alternatively, the CPU 200 may be implemented on an FPGA, ASIC, PLD orusing discrete logic circuits, as one of ordinary skill in the art wouldrecognize. Further, CPU 200 may be implemented as multiple processorscooperatively working in parallel to perform the instructions.

The computer 232 in FIG. 2 may also include various communicationsprocessors, including a Bluetooth processor 216, WiFi processor 222, amodem 222 for cellular communication, and a GPS processor 224. As can beappreciated, the network 230 can be a public network, such as theInternet, or a private network such as LAN or WAN network, or anycombination thereof and can also include PSTN or ISDN sub-networks.

The computer system 232 may further include a video processor 212 and aLCD Video interface 214. The computer system 232 may include a touchscreen 244, and buttons 246. In the case of a built-in smart displaydevice, the computer system 232 may be connected to one or more cameras226 mounted to the automotive vehicle 130. In other mobile devices, atleast one camera 226 may be a component of the mobile device 110.

Communication between each road marker 111 may be by short rangewireless communications or by a wired connection. In some embodiments,the road markers 111 may be part of a larger communications network thatprovides information to an external computer system. Examples of shortrange communications may include WiFi®, Bluetooth®, a cellular network,direct transmission such as millimeter wave, ultrasonic, or laser. Oneor more of these communications circuitry may be used for externalcommunication as well. In the case of a communications network, the roadmarkers 111 may be connected to an external computer system throughWiFi® wireless communication or cellular communication. The road markers111 may be interconnected to each other through Bluetooth Low Energy(LE) and Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) communication. UWB is a radio technologyfor short-range, high-bandwidth (greater than 500 MHz) communications.In some embodiments, road markers 111 include communication transceiversfor the associated communications protocol. In some embodiments, atleast one road marker 111 also includes a communications processor foreach supported communications protocol. In one embodiment, the roadmarkers 111 include a Bluetooth low energy communications processor andtransceiver.

In some embodiments, one or more of the road markers may be equippedwith a computer. The computer may be a programmable computer orcomputation circuitry for performing certain specialized functions. Onespecialized function is calculation of a shape of a boundary of an areaof interest. This function will be explained in more detail below.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a computer system in a road marker according toan exemplary aspect of the disclosure. The road marker computer system301 may be a circuit board having a minimal number of components. Thecomponents may include at least one processing circuitry (CPU 301)having one or more processing cores and memory for storing an operatingsystem and programming instructions. The memory may include non-volatilememory of one or more of types including Flash memory 303, andElectronically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM 305).Secondary RAM 307 may be used to store instructions and data beingprocessed. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 301 and memorymay be included on a single chip 310. In one embodiment, thecomputer-based system is an integrated circuit board 301 with aquad-core processor 310. The board includes digital I/O pins 315, analoginputs 317, hardware serial ports 313, a USB connection 311, a powerjack 319, and a reset button 321. It should be understood that othercircuit board configurations are possible. Variations can include thenumber of pins, whether or not the board includes communication ports ora reset button.

Although the description is of a particular circuit board, it should beunderstood that other computer system boards may be used. Processingcircuitry 301 may vary based on the number of processing cores, size ofnon-volatile memory, the size of data memory, as well as whether or notit includes an A/D converter 309 or D/A converter.

FIGS. 4A and 4B is a schematic of road markers in the form of cones inaccordance with an exemplary aspect of the disclosure. Although roadcones are illustrated, the configuration that is described applies aswell to other forms of the road markers 111. At least one road cone 421may be configured with a controller 401. In some embodiments, additionalroad cones 422 may be configured with a communications module, such asBluetooth Low Energy 409. In order to facilitate communication, the roadcones 421, 422 may be configured with one or more antenna 403. For easeof identification, road cones 421 and 422 may be of different colors,such as yellow and orange, and may be configured with an exteriordisplay or light indicator to indicate that the internal controller 401or communications module 409 is powered on. In some embodiments, theroad cones 421, 422 may be fitted with sustainable power supplies andenergy stores, such as solar panels 407 and battery banks 405. The roadcones 421, 422 may recharge batteries during sunlight hours forsustained operation of the road cones 421, 422 at night. In someembodiments, one or more of the road cones 421, 422 may be fitted with apiezoelectric matt 411 that converts mechanical energy into electriccurrent as the matt is compressed. The matt 411 may be placed on a roador a sidewalk and as the matt is compressed it may generate current tocharge the battery banks on the road cone. Alternatively, the matt 411may simply function as a switch to turn the controller 401 orcommunications module 409 on. In some embodiments, each road cone 421,422 may have an exterior low power indicator light that indicates thatthe controller 401 or communications module 405 is not receivingsufficient power, or that the rechargeable battery pack is low voltageand requires recharging.

In some embodiments, one or more of a group of road markers 111 may beplaced in a power-save setting, such that various features of the roadmarker are disabled to reduce a power drain. For example, in a systemhaving four road marker indicating the location of a crosswalk, only oneroad marker may be placed in a connection mode such that it makes aconnection with automotive vehicles or the network, and the remainingthree road markers may be placed in a low-power mode wherein the threeremaining road markers only interact with the fourth road cone inconnection mode. The system of road markers may be configured toautomatically adjust power drain settings in order to maximize theenergy stores on hand. In such embodiments, switching from a power-savemode to a full communication mode may occur by transmission of a requestfor communication signal to a marker in connection mode. In someembodiments, road markers 111 may be turned off by way of a switch, orautomatically when the road marker 111 is lifted off of the ground.

In some embodiments, sensors may be attached to the circuit board by wayof the Digital IN 315 or Analog IN 317, and may include an accelerometerto detect that a road marker has been moved, or knocked over, a radar todetect a distance to a moving vehicle, a camera to take pictures ofvehicles that violate or approach to near an area of interest.

In some embodiments, an infrared (IR) reflective coating or partialcoating may be applied to the road markers. Such a coating may be usedto trigger an IR camera of the automotive vehicle to cause the vehicleto begin looking for an area of interest in the vicinity of the vehicle.

The road markers 111 may indicate and broadcast an area of interest. Asingle road marker 111 may operate in a mode, referred to as a radiusmode, to broadcast a stored predetermined shape such as a circle or asquare of certain dimensions. In some embodiments, other road markers111 may together determine the physical size of the area of interest,and the single road marker 111 may broadcast a size of the predeterminedshape based on the physical locations of the other road markers 111. Forexample, a radius of a circle may be determined based on a distancebetween two road markers 111, the radius being half of this distance. Ina similar manner, dimensions of a square area of interest may bedetermined based on a distance between two road markers 111. A locationof the square area of interest may be based on a third road marker 111that indicates a second side of the square.

As an alternative to radius mode, in a fence mode two or more roadmarkers may mark the extent of an area of interest. Two road markers maybe used to form a fence line that indicates an extent of an area ofinterest and a line that vehicles should not cross. Three or more roadmarkers may form a boundary of an area of interest.

In the case of three or more road markers, a shape formed by the roadmarkers may be determined based on the distance between road markers.Distance between road markers may be calculated by time-of-flight (ToF)communication between road markers. ToF measurement involvestransmitting an identifiable, unique bitstream from the mastertransceiver, echoing it back either passively or actively from the slavetransceiver, and measuring either the time taken for the round trip, orfor shorter distances, phase differences between outgoing and incomingsignals. Distance is determined from the period of time taken totransmit a signal, which may include processing time. The master roadmarker may determine a shape based on the number of vertices and thedistance between pairs of vertices (road markers). For example, giventhree road markers, the distance between pairs of road markers can beused to calculate the angle between lines, which defines the shape andsize of the triangle.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement of road markers thathave been set up to broadcast multiple boundaries, defining tiers inaccordance with an exemplary aspect of the disclosure. In someembodiments, the fence or radius modes that define a boundary for thearea of interest may define additional boundaries at various distancesfrom the area of interest. The additional boundaries may have associatedtiers of actions. For example, a first tier (Tier 1) may be an innermostring (an innermost boundary that is closest to the area of interest) ofthe radius or fence mode with an action of broadcasting an indicationthat an autonomous vehicle is prohibited from crossing the innermostboundary. This ring may be at or proximate to the road marker, or theradius or fence boundary. A second tier (Tier 2) may have an action ofrequiring the vehicle to slow to a certain speed in order to drive morecautiously within the particular tier of the area of interest. Thesecond tier (Tier 2) may be a second boundary that is at or proximate toa predetermined distance from the innermost ring. A third tier may be athird boundary, with an action in which when the boundary is crossed,may require an autonomous vehicle to broadcast the location of the areaof interest and the locations of the three tiers to a network or toother automotive vehicles within a certain radius from the area ofinterest.

In one embodiment, the various tiers of actions may be implemented usingcost maps. In this embodiment, each tier may have a certain risk level.When an automotive vehicle enters an area defined by a tier, the risklevel will change to the level corresponding to the respective tier.

In some embodiments, the areas of interest may be programmed into a roadmarker that includes a programmable computer using a wireless device,such as a handheld mobile device 110. Programming may be performed byuploading a configuration file into a memory of the controller of a roadmarker, may be performed by transmitting certain settings asattribute-value pairs, or may be performed by directly accessing andmodifying code stored in memory of the road marker controller. The areaof interest may be labeled and various settings may be programmed forthe area of interest such as the level of sharing on the network or withvehicles. For example, the area of interest may be public, private, ordisclosed to only certain entities on the network.

The road markers may be programmed to operate in additional modes. FIG.6 is a diagram illustrating a mode for indicating a crosswalk inaccordance with an exemplary aspect of the disclosure. A Cross Walk Modemay be a mode in which road markers 111 will indicate a crosswalk. Forexample, two pairs of road markers 111 may be positioned on an edge of acurb 603 on each side of a street 601. All four road markers 111 maycommunicate with each other using UWB Bluetooth LE to determine thedistance between adjacent road markers 111. One of the road markers 111designated as a primary marker may broadcast the boundary defined by thefour road markers to indicate a crosswalk 605 having dimensions based onthe positions of the road markers 111. Instead of four markers 111, tworoad markers 111 may be programmed to indicate a crosswalk having apredefined distance between crosswalk lines. In one embodiment, the roadmarkers 111 may indicate the crosswalk continuously while the roadmarkers are powered on, or the road markers may indicate a crosswalkduring predetermined time periods. In one embodiment, the road markers111 may include a motion detector, such that when motion is sensed inone side of the street in a vicinity of a road marker (predetermineddistance), due to the presence of a pedestrian entering at one end ofthe crosswalk, a crosswalk is indicated by the road markers 111.

A timing mode may be set in which the road markers 111 indicate a shapeof an area of interest based on a schedule. The road markers 111 may becontrolled to turn on and off at scheduled dates and/or times.

Another type of mode may include a Virtual Reality mode. A VirtualReality mode may be set in which information provided from road markersmay be used in virtual reality or augmented reality display. Forexample, the indication of an area of interest may be displayed in avehicle smart display 131 by augmenting a display of an actual view ofan area with a computer generated boundary that portrays a boundary ofthe area of interest. As another example, the area of interest andassociated boundary may be computer generated as a virtual realityscene.

The area of interest may indicate an area that the vehicle should knowof in order to take one or more actions with respect to the area. Theinformation about the area of interest may be broadcast to automotivevehicles 130 in a vicinity of the area of interest 105, or may betransmitted to a network 120. For example, if construction is takingplace within one lane of a two lane road, the road markers 111 could beplaced around the area of construction to automatically transmit to thenetwork 120 information to indicate the location of the construction.The information that is broadcast to the vehicles 130 directly ortransmitted to the network 120 enables automotive vehicles 130 in thearea to initiate one or more actions regarding the area of interest 105or to reroute to a route that avoids the area of interest all together.

In some embodiments, the road markers 111 may broadcast the location ofan area of interest to one or more static compute modules in thevicinity of the area of interest for transmission to a network 120 orvehicles 130 connected to a network. For example, if the road markers111 are used to mark an area of interest in an intersection, the roadmarkers 111 may broadcast the location of the area of interest to acompute module at the intersection for transmission to a wider networkincluding automotive vehicles and other intersections.

In one embodiment, a vehicle may be required to be registered with aservice that is accessible through the network 120. For example, avehicle may be registered with a certain cloud service. Examples ofcloud services that are related to travel and navigation include GoogleMaps, Apple Maps, Waze and other map services.

In some embodiments, multiple road markers may connect to one anotherautomatically via any particular frequency of radio transmission usingan ultra-wide band (UWB) connection. Such a connection may provide forhigh data transfer rates but have a relatively low energy consumptionrate. The high data rates may allow transmission of detailed informationabout an area of interest. The relatively short range of UWB may notaffect applications, because the areas of interest demarked by roadmarkers may be relatively small.

In some embodiments, road markers may form a mesh network, in which roadmarkers communicate with each other to determine distance between eachpair of road markers. One or more of the road markers may calculate ashape based on the distance between the road markers. Once shape isestablished, the one or more road markers may communicate with a network120 or vehicle(s) 130 to report the shape.

In some embodiments, certain road markers may be implemented as aprimary device(s), which may be a road marker that has a full complementof hardware (controller and sensors). The road markers that are primarydevices may be identified by, for example, a certain color or label(e.g., a blue road marker). In one embodiment, the primary device havinga full complement of hardware may be located in a vehicle, or otherexternal device. The road markers may include only minimal hardware(communications module) that can perform distance determination andexternal communication. If all road markers are primary devices, eachroad marker may be equipped with a complement of inexpensive hardwarecomponents.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for operation of road markers in accordance withan exemplary aspect of the disclosure. A computer/controller in one ofthe road markers 111 or in a location in the vicinity of the roadmarkers performs processing and communications. Although the flowchartdesignates a sequence of steps, the steps may be performed in differentsequences. For example, a decision to use tiers may be made as anearlier step, and a decision to communicate directly with automotivevehicles or communicate with a network may be made as an earlier step.The flowchart illustrates actions that may be taken based on certaindecisions. In S701, detection of an area of interest is made. An area ofinterest may be a road work zone, work that affects an area of the roadsuch as tree trimming, power line maintenance, a disabled vehicle, atraffic accident, a pothole, or anything that would cause an area of theroad, including a side of the road, to be dangerous for vehicles to gothrough. The area of interest may be determined beforehand in the caseof scheduled road work, or may be detected based on a communication. Forexample, a person involved in a disabled vehicle or a traffic accidentmay inform a third party, or the police, of the incident and relatedinformation such as location. Once an area of interest is detected, oneor more road markers may be taken to and placed at or near the area ofinterest. In some embodiments, in S703, the road markers may beinitialized with certain settings, including a notification schedule, atier specification, whether communication will be by broadcasting ortransmission to a network, or both, whether a shape of an area ofinterest is to be predefined, or is to be determined by the arrangementof road markers.

In some embodiments, the operation of road markers is fully automatic.The road markers may power on when placed on the ground and maycommunicate with one another to determine distances and a shape of theirarrangement, and may automatically begin broadcasting the shapeindicating the area of interest.

In S705 (YES), if a road marker is set for a predetermined shape, inS707, one road marker 111 may be placed in the vicinity of the area ofinterest and may communicate the shape indicating the area of interest.In some embodiments, multiple road markers may be arranged according tothe predefined shape. If automotive vehicles that are expected toapproach the area of interest are autonomous vehicles or vehiclesequipped with certain sensors, it may not be necessary to arrange a fullset of road markers to visually indicate an area of interest. Forexample, two road markers 111 may be arranged to indicate a length ofone side of a triangle or square shape, and the road markers maycommunicate the predefined shape and dimensions based on the two roadmarkers 111. In some embodiments, once the road markers 111 arepositioned, communications may be initiated in the road markers 111.

In fully automated road markers, in S709, placement of road markers onthe ground may cause initiation of processing, including powering on,and initating communications. In S711, road markers 111 may begincommunication with other road markers 111 (for example in meshcommunications) to determine distances and shape of the arrangement ofmarkers. In S713 (YES), if the road markers are set for tiers, in S715,messages and commands will be modified according to settings for tiers.Once a shape of an arrangement of road markers is determined, and anyother settings are made including tiers, in S717, one or more roadmarkers may begin communicating the shape and location of the area ofinterest. If the road markers 111 are equipped for broadcastcommunications (NO in S717), in S721, the shape (including dimensions)and location of the area of interest may be broadcast to oncomingautomotive vehicles 130. In some embodiments (YES in S717), in S719, theroad markers 111 may communicate the shape (including dimensions) andlocation of an area of interest by transmitting the information to anetwork 120. In some embodiments, in the road markers 111 maycommunicate shape and location information both by broadcasting theinformation and by transmitting the information to a network 120.

Although the road markers 111 may communicate shape (includingdimensions) and location information for an area of interest, otherinformation may be communicated as well. For example, a message mayinclude information about the type of area of interest, such as roadwork zone, disabled vehicle, traffic accident, or in the case ofcrosswalk mode, crosswalk. A message may include information about atime schedule that the area of interest will be in effect.

Numerous modifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of theappended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than asspecifically described herein.

Thus, the foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplaryembodiments of the present invention. As will be understood by thoseskilled in the art, the present invention may be embodied in otherspecific forms without departing from the spirit or essentialcharacteristics thereof. Accordingly, the disclosure of the presentinvention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting of the scopeof the invention, as well as other claims. The disclosure, including anyreadily discernible variants of the teachings herein, defines, in part,the scope of the foregoing claim terminology such that no inventivesubject matter is dedicated to the public.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of dynamically communicating informationof an area of interest, the method comprising: powering on andinitiating communications in at least one marker device; determining aperipheral shape indicated by the at least one marker device as theinformation of the area of interest; and communicating the informationfrom the at least one marker device.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising determining a distance between pairs of the marker devicesbased on time of flight communications; determining the peripheral shapebased on the distance between the marker devices.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein the peripheral shape is communicated to a vehicle by way of acommunications network.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the peripheralshape is broadcast directly from the at least one marker device to atleast one vehicle.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the peripheralshape is a predetermined shape.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein thepredetermined shape is a triangle.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein thepredetermined shape is a circle.
 8. The method of claim 5, furtherincluding a plurality of tiers, wherein the tiers are defined byboundaries matching the peripheral shape and located in a regionextending to a predetermined distance outside of the peripheral shape.9. The method of claim 8, wherein a tier adjacent to the boundary at theperipheral shape is a warning tier in which vehicles entering thewarning tier will receive a warning indication concerning the area ofinterest.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the peripheral shape isindicated by a plurality of the marker devices and the peripheral shapeis formed as overlapping shapes as the information of the area ofinterest.
 11. An apparatus for dynamically communicating information ofan area of interest, the apparatus comprising: at least one road markerdevice including: processing circuitry configured to determine aperipheral shape indicated by the at least one road marker device as theinformation of the area of interest; and communicate the informationfrom the at least one marker device.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11,wherein the at least one road marker device further includes apiezoelectric matt to generate current for powering the processingcircuitry.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processingcircuitry is further configured to determine a distance between pairs ofthe road marker devices based on time of flight communications; anddetermine the peripheral shape based on the distance between the markerdevices.
 14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one roadmarker device has a power-save setting, in which one road marker devicemaintains a communication with an external network, while remaining roadmarker devices are switched to a power that is lower than full operationpower that is sufficient for receiving and responding to a wake upcommunication signal from the one road marker device.
 15. The apparatusof claim 11, wherein the at least one road marker device has an infraredreflective coating at least covering a portion of the respective markerdevice.
 16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processing circuitryis configured to communicate with other road marker devices in a meshnetwork.
 17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processing circuitryis configured to communicate with an external network.
 18. The apparatusof claim 11, wherein the processing circuitry is configured tocommunicate with an automotive vehicle.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18,wherein the automotive vehicle is an autonomous vehicle.
 20. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein the processing circuitry includeswireless communication circuitry for receiving and storing initialsettings and program instructions.